After a weekend filled with controversy, the truth has finally come out. Alistair Overeem released a statement today that confirms that he will not fight Ricco Rodriguez at Dream 15.

The statement says that he was interested in fighting at Dream 15 when FEG, the parent company of Dream, offered him a fight against Andrei Arlovski for the Dream heavyweight title. However, that fight failed to materialize and he was offered Ikuhisa Minowa, Tim Sylvia and finally Rodriguez. Overeem eventually decided to pull out of the event completely.

ProMMANow.com tried to confirm the bout with Rodriguez’s manager Ken Pavia and he said “We have plane flights…”

Overeem has been angling for a fight with Fedor Emelianenko for the last several months. However, Fabricio Werdum easily defeated the world’s former number-one fighter at the last Strikeforce show. Strikeforce has not announced exact plans, but Overeem could defend his Strikeforce heavyweight title against Werdum and then face Emelianenko.

Overeem originally won the Strikeforce heavyweight title by defeating Paul Buentello back in 2007. Including that win, he has now won eight-straight MMA fights. Werdum did submit Overeem back at Pride Total Elimination Absolute in 2006. Overeem has also throw his hat into the K-1 ring. He has gone 4-2 since 2008 with wins over Badr Hari and Peter Aerts.

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